Today: Easy paint projects.

You know that saying, A little goes a long way? That’s the theme today. Got a little paint leftover from a bigger project (say, that time your husband painted the nursery while you spent the day eating ice cream)? Or maybe you can’t bear to throw away a nearly empty bottle of nail polish? Or perhaps you’re simply making room for creativity(Yes, my people! Yes!) and want to use what you have hanging around. Like… your keys. Or your roommate’s nail polish.

I’ve got just the project (or two) for you.

Easy paint projects

Plant markers

It could just be me, but um… most plants sort of look alike. Until the flowers or fruit or vegetables show up. But until then, I’m like… Is this the cilantro or the jalapeño? Does it need moderate or full sun? Should I water this today or in a week? And while I’m busy pondering, the thing dies. Sad, but (kind of) true.

Super easy solution: Dip a popsicle stick in paint, wait for the paint to dry (obvi) and use a Sharpie or label maker to, you know, label the plant… and you’ve got yourself a semi-cool looking plant marker. I like to pretend I ate four Yasso frozen Greek yogurt bars just for the sake of this project, but I ate them… for the sake of eating them.

Color code your keys

Another case of mistaken identity: Most of my keys, whether for my office or home, look like the other keys on my ring. For months, I’ve spent the better part of five minutes trying to get into my own office each morning, branding myself as either super-unorganized or super-likely to be a robber.

While it may be tempting to label your keys something like “front door” or “office,” that seems unsafe and you know my motto (safety first, fun second). Instead, I broke out a few bottles of nail polish and color coded my keys.

I used 2-3 coats for each key, and found it only took a few minutes to dry. With that said, I wouldn’t tempt fate and start this project right before you’re headed out the door. Also, my office keys read “duplication prohibited.” I am hoping decoration is okay.

DIY memo board

This project is a tiny bit more involved, but it’s a fun way to repurpose an unused or mismatched picture frame. I was hoping to find a little memo board for Grace’s room, but I couldn’t find a non-hideous white board, so I picked up an inexpensive frame and made my own.

After removing the glass from the frame and carefully cleaning it, I applied three coats of mint green paint to the backside, letting each coat dry for an hour or so. I used an oil paint pen to draw a little note on the frame, and up on the wall it went. Right now we use it to keep track of library due dates and packing lists for day care, but eventually I’d like to use it to leave little love notes for my girl. You know, once she can read.

ID your sunglasses

My family has precisely five things in common with the Kennedys:

We’re New Englanders.

We’re Catholic.

We enjoy politics.

We love the Cape.

We wear Wayfayers.

We all spent the 4th of July together, and I accidentally stole my sister’s sunglasses at least four times. I probably wore my dad’s glasses to the beach. Who knows. I might be wearing my brother-in-law’s glasses now, were it not for my semi-clever solution. When we got back to Boston, I broke out the nail polish again, and painted a little dot of mint candy apple on the inside arm of my glasses.

A little bit of paint and suddenly I’m wearing my own glasses, opening all the right doors (with the right keys), and packing precisely what Grace needs for the day. Oh, and yes. I can safely distinguish between our jalapeno and cilantro plants. Mostly because we now have a hearty crop of peppers.